Techbuyer Supplying the Royal Mint

Techbuyer is delighted to be an official supplier to The Royal Mint for their e-waste recycling. Find out more about recycling with Techbuyer's Resource Recovery team here.

 

The Royal Mint. 1,100 years in business. They are known as ‘the original makers’ for a reason, but the past few years have seen significant change for the business. The decline in the use of coins was acknowledged by The Royal Mint as a future challenge some time ago and had adjusted their long-term vision accordingly. The diversification of the Royal Mint covers a range of projects, such as a fine jewellery brand named ‘886 by The Royal Mint’. However, our primary interest is in their Precious Metal Recovery plant.

 

E-Waste - a global Concern

E-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream on the planet and currently faces a major issue with recycling. It is estimated that just 20% of the 50 million tonnes of e-waste produced globally is actually recycled, with the rest of it being thrown out and likely ending up in landfill. A regular landfill is bad enough, but an e-waste landfill adds an entirely new list of dangers. The aversion to decomposition, the toxic chemicals, and the promise of valuable materials that entice those in the area to perform dangerous extractions, all contribute to why it is so important for e-waste to be responsibly handled and recycled. E-waste is a particularly large issue in the UK; a recent study found that we produce the second most e-waste per person in the world. This only goes to highlight the importance of responsible recycling.

 

Identifying Opportunities in an Issue

The Royal Mint saw this issue and decided to turn it into an opportunity. In 2019 they identified the potential that precious metals in e-waste offered. Since then, they have been working hard to bring their goal into fruition. They completed their factory in 2021, received all the necessary equipment in 2023, and have now begun full scale operations.

Although reclaiming precious metals is a necessary practice, the more common technique has a major drawback – the chemicals. Traditionally, the chemicals used are unrecyclable and highly toxic. This is because an acid called nitro-hydrochloric acid (also known as aqua regia) is the main ingredient. Nitro-hydrochloric acid is highly corrosive and non-recyclable. It gets the gold you were looking for, but at a cost. This is not an issue for the Royal Mint, however, as they identified another opportunity with their gold extraction process.

Excir, a Canadian start-up, created an alternative, clean, energy-efficient solution for gold extraction. This new non-toxic solution is not just recyclable, but reusable. It is a world first, patented chemistry that is capable of recovering over 99% of gold from e-waste and works at ambient temperatures. There is scope for it to be expanded into extracting other precious materials in future, but for the time being it is exclusively for gold.

 

The processing Plant

The purpose of the plant is to separate e-waste into different materials so that recovery can be done more efficiently. The Royal Mint keeps uses the e-waste gold in its products while everything else can be sorted and recycled by a Royal Mint Partner.

The purpose of the plant is to separate e-waste into different materials so that recovery can be done more efficiently. The Royal Mint keeps uses the e-waste gold in its products while everything else can be sorted and recycled by a Royal Mint Partner.

 

The Statistics

The numbers generated from this gold extraction process at such an early stage are truly impressive. The Royal Mint has the capacity to process up to 4,000 tonnes of printed circuit boards per year.

The non-precious metals are sent to be turned into products such as metal sheets, bars and rods.

On average, one tonne of circuit boards can produce around 165g of gold.

It takes around 600 mobile phones to create one gold ring.

What does The Royal Mint Need with Gold?

Armed with the ability to sustainably extract gold from e-waste, skilled craftspeople, and a sustainable outlook, the Royal Mint identified jewellery as an opportunity and from this, the brand 886 by The Royal Mint was born. 4,000 tonnes of e-waste generates around 450kg of gold, plenty to make high quality jewellery and reduce the need for mining raw materials.

 

A Focus on Sustainability

It might have been easy for The Royal Mint to build their e-waste recovery plant and end it there with sustainability practices. However, they have taken this new direction as an opportunity for a culture shift. First, wind turbines were erected, then a solar farm joined the party to create their very own Local Energy Centre. The energy generated helps to power the entirety of the Royal Mint’s site, including its manufacturing areas.

Sustainability also includes maintaining local jobs, skills and supporting the wider community. This was a large reason as to why The Royal Mint looked to diversify rather than downsize. They also support multiple charities in their local area.

Like Techbuyer, The Royal Mint have committed to the UN Global Goals, identifying 15 measurable targets to hold themselves to.

On the Cutting Edge - Supplying The Royal Mint

Techbuyer is excited to announce that we are official suppliers to The Royal Mint. At Techbuyer, we aim to be at the forefront of emerging technology when it comes to e-recycling, and a partnership with The Royal Mint is a fantastic example of this. We will be sending various types of circuit board, where gold will be extracted, while the other metals will be recycled and reused elsewhere.

 

“We like to do things a little differently at Techbuyer, and playing a small part in this exciting project with The Royal Mint really underlines our intentions to find sustainable solutions to the global e-waste problem.”

Paul, Resource Recovery Manager at Techbuyer.

 

You can find out more here about our recycling service.